Why this ride
From Sakurai it runs 213 km to Sakurai; allow about 4 h 03 of riding. It goes by way of Byodo-in, Hanzei-tenno-ryo Kofun and back through Byodo-in.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Yamada-dera Temple Site and Hanzei-tenno-ryo Kofun
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 213 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 03
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Yamada-dera Temple Site
South of the modern town of Sakurai, in the Asuka region of Nara Prefecture, the grass and low walls of Yamada-dera mark the ruins of what was once a very grand temple. It was founded in the 640s by Soga no Kurayamada Ishikawamaro, a powerful minister of the Soga clan, who was caught up in court intrigue and is said to have taken his own life at the temple in 649, after being accused of treason. The story gives the quiet site a sad edge. In later excavations, archaeologists uncovered the foundation of the main hall and a long covered corridor whose timbers had collapsed and been buried in place, one of the best-preserved examples of seventh-century temple architecture in Japan.
Read the complete Yamada-dera Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Yamada-dera Temple Site is where the day begins. Next is Byodo-in.
2. Byōdō-in
Take a ten-yen coin out of your pocket in Japan and you are holding a picture of this place. The Phoenix Hall of the Byōdō-in in Uji, with its wings stretching out on either side of a central hall and bronze phoenixes on the roof, is one of the most famous buildings in the country. It was built in 1053 by Fujiwara no Yorimichi, a member of the most powerful aristocratic family of the Heian period, who converted his father's villa into a Buddhist temple. Its reflection in the pond in front was meant to evoke the Pure Land paradise of the Amida Buddha.
Read the complete Byodo-in write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Byōdō-in comes up about 50 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hanzei-tenno-ryo Kofun.
3. Hanzei-tenno-ryo Kofun
The Mozu kofun are strange. In the middle of modern Sakai, a heavy industrial and residential city south of Osaka, rise huge forested mounds surrounded by water-filled moats, some of them shaped like a keyhole, and these are the tombs of the rulers of Japan from the fifth century. Hanzei's tomb is one of the smaller ones in the group, though still well over a hundred metres long, and it is easily reached because the moat path runs around it. The giant of the group, attributed to Emperor Nintoku, is nearly five hundred metres long and one of the largest tombs in the world by area.
Read the complete Hanzei-tenno-ryo Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 107 km into the recorded legs you reach Hanzei-tenno-ryo Kofun. Next is back through Byodo-in.
4. back through Byodo-in
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Byodo-in write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Byodo-in, late in the day. Next is Yamada-dera Temple Site.
5. Yamada-dera Temple Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Yamada-dera Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Yamada-dera Temple Site. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Yamada-dera Temple Site to Byodo-in
Yamada-dera Temple Site → Byodo-in is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Byōdō-in to Hanzei-tenno-ryo Kofun
Byōdō-in → Hanzei-tenno-ryo Kofun is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hanzei-tenno-ryo Kofun to back through Byodo-in
Hanzei-tenno-ryo Kofun → back through Byodo-in is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Byodo-in to Yamada-dera Temple Site
back through Byodo-in → Yamada-dera Temple Site is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.